Why Hackers Are Targeting Schools and Hospitals

WSJ Tech News Briefing

The Wall Street Journal

Tech News, News

4.3 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 11 December 2023

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

You’ve seen the headlines. High-profile companies are hit by a cyberattack, and customer information is stolen. But some hacks don’t make headlines. These days, hackers are holding data hostage from public sector organizations like schools, hospitals and utilities. This means that local governments are spending big to clean up after these attacks and prevent new ones. It’s not just bad news for students and patients. Municipal bond holders can also take a hit. WSJ reporter Brenda León joins host Alex Ossola to talk about how municipalities are looking to protect themselves against future breaches. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you by Pepsi Max. Christmas is great, but there's loads of ways to make it better.
0:08.0	Like sneaking some chili into the gravy for some extra oint, or building a playlist that will even get your
0:14.8	none up on the table or just cracking open an ice cold Pepsi Max.
0:20.1	Christmas.
0:23.0	Better with Pepsi Max. Welcome to Tech News Briefing. It's Monday, December 11th. I'm Alex Oscela for the Wall Street Journal.
0:37.0	Today we're talking about hacks big and small.
0:40.0	First, a data breach at Biotech Company 23 and me exposed millions of people's data.
0:45.6	W.S.J. Personal tech reporter Dalvin Brown talks about the simple password practices that could prevent these hacks from happening in the future.
0:53.6	Then, cyber attacks are causing schools, local governments, and hospitals to spend big,
0:59.1	and personal data is at risk.
1:01.6	Now, these public sector organizations are building up their digital
1:04.9	defenses. We'll hear from W.S.J reporter Brenda Leone about why the people who pay for big
1:10.3	projects are pushing municipalities to invest in cybersecurity.
1:16.9	But first, biotech company 23 and me recently disclosed that thousands of accounts had been compromised,
1:23.7	exposing information belonging to nearly 7 million people.
1:27.2	But the hackers did not have to break into the company's databases or do anything
1:31.2	all that sophisticated.
1:32.4	They just tried passwords that customers had used elsewhere. bases or do anything all that sophisticated.
1:32.6	They just tried passwords that customers had used elsewhere.
1:35.6	W.S.J. Personal tech reporter Dalvin Brown is here to tell us more about the hack
1:40.1	and why it may finally be time to get a password manager.
1:43.2	Delvan, what happened here?
	...

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